Parlee Beach campers unhappy with wet weather
Damp weather during what is typically the hottest month of the year in New Brunswick has dampened the enthusiasm of visitors to the province's most popular beach community.
"It has been disappointing because it's our summer vacation and we want to enjoy the sun and have a good time," said Pierre Bordeleau, of Quebec, who is visiting Parlee Beach with his family.
The Moncton area has seen 20 per cent more rain that an average July and in Bathurst, it's been 11 per cent cooler than normal this month, said CBC meteorologist Kalin Mitchell.
The weather is also affecting businesses that depend on tourists in the summer.
"When you go to that beach and you can walk down the middle of it and no one's there — all of a sudden 20,000 people are dispersed some place else," said Bob Taylor, who owns The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant.
Oceanic campground owner Dave Maltais says the weather has left him dealing with some unhappy campers.
"The campers are not as happy and not as — like we say in the industry — they're not happy campers," he said with a laugh. "So you have to deal with it. We have to be more patient with complaints."
Taylor has also heard from the tourists.
"They're complaining," he said. "They got young kids. The ones that were here to camp, they grab a hotel one or two nights. Economically, it hurts them because they didn't plan that."
Chalaine Côté is one visitor who did make it to the beach on Monday.
"The weather's been terrible, but you make do with what you can get," she said. "So every little ray of sunshine, we take advantage of it."
Meanwhile, Bordeleau is trying to stick it out in a cabin with three young children.
"You move the bed and you make a place for them to play," he said. "We are trying to avoid video games and TV. That is hard to avoid that right now.":
And Bordeleau says if the cooler and damper weather than normal continues, he might be packing up to go back to Quebec sooner than he planned.
